0
    • Close Modal
    Common Reads Library Marketing
    0 0
    Download high-resolution image Look inside

    Mendo

    How an Unlikely Group of Rebels Turned Cannabis into California's Cash Crop

    Author Charlie Harris
    Look inside
    Hardcover
    $30.00 US
    | $38.00 CAN
    Catapult | Counterpoint
    18 per carton
    On sale Jun 23, 2026 | 336 Pages | 9781640096912
    Add to cart Add to list Exam Copies

    See Additional Formats
    View on Edelweiss
    A whip-smart and entertaining work of narrative history that shows how an unlikely partnership borne of necessity spawned a lucrative marijuana industry that changed the world

    California's homegrown weed industry helped launch the solar power industry, and that's not all. Mendocino county—or Mendo—sits within California’s Emerald Triangle, a sprawling, sparsely populated region that has produced billions of dollars’ worth of weed, and since the 1970s, virtually every inhabitant has either been involved in the pot trade or been a beneficiary of it—including the government.

    Mendo was formed by the confluence of back-to-the-land hippies fleeing San Francisco and longtime locals who held more traditional, conservative beliefs. These two groups shared little in common beyond a strong antiauthoritarian streak and a need to create new opportunities after the logging industry retreated from the region. A tight-knit, backwoods, outlaw culture arose from this uncommon alliance. Mendo tells the fascinating and often humorous story of how, for over fifty years, this cabal of iconoclastic characters not only sustained the county through the illegal cultivation of marijuana, but also developed a legal framework that has been adopted in decriminalization efforts across the United States.

    Today, Mendo is again on the precipice of economic ruin as the weed industry emerges from the shadows, mirroring challenges faced across the nation where traditional industries that have long sustained working-class communities are in decline, causing suffering, economic strife, and political divisiveness. Mendo, just like the nation, is fighting to find itself in the twenty-first century.
    "Oxford University researcher Harris debuts with a freewheeling history of the grassroots marijuana industry in California’s rural Mendocino County . . . It makes for a raucous look at the renegades that built the Emerald Triangle " —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

    "Mendo is like a smooth ride on a motorcycle over backroads, and Charlie Harris makes magic out of unlikely figures that otherwise might be lost to history. There are police chases, environmental activists, and nuanced policy explorations. You feel like you've gone back to the land yourself. But this book ultimately isn't just about marijuana or a winding region of Northern California—it's really about this country and where it stands today." —Nick Neely, author of Alta California

    "Little understood by Californians, little known by Americans, Mendocino County has finally received the fast and compelling history it deserves. Charlie Harris tells us about the people, the process, the politics, and the business of marijuana, along with the government’s attack, and how they came together to shape an extraordinary place." —Steven Stoll, author of Ramp Hollow: The Ordeal of Appalachia

    "Mendo is a brilliantly observed history of an outlaw economy and the people who lived by it. Charlie Harris writes with rare clarity and humor about cannabis, community, and the quiet violence of economic transition—capturing a forgotten America at the moment it slips into the light." —Norman Ohler, author of Tripped
    CHARLIE HARRIS is a writer and researcher from the United Kingdom who has done his time on America’s west coast. He left the pot industry for academia, where he has worked since 2018 as a writer for Oxford University’s Global History of Capitalism Project.
    Charlie Harris View titles by Charlie Harris

    About

    A whip-smart and entertaining work of narrative history that shows how an unlikely partnership borne of necessity spawned a lucrative marijuana industry that changed the world

    California's homegrown weed industry helped launch the solar power industry, and that's not all. Mendocino county—or Mendo—sits within California’s Emerald Triangle, a sprawling, sparsely populated region that has produced billions of dollars’ worth of weed, and since the 1970s, virtually every inhabitant has either been involved in the pot trade or been a beneficiary of it—including the government.

    Mendo was formed by the confluence of back-to-the-land hippies fleeing San Francisco and longtime locals who held more traditional, conservative beliefs. These two groups shared little in common beyond a strong antiauthoritarian streak and a need to create new opportunities after the logging industry retreated from the region. A tight-knit, backwoods, outlaw culture arose from this uncommon alliance. Mendo tells the fascinating and often humorous story of how, for over fifty years, this cabal of iconoclastic characters not only sustained the county through the illegal cultivation of marijuana, but also developed a legal framework that has been adopted in decriminalization efforts across the United States.

    Today, Mendo is again on the precipice of economic ruin as the weed industry emerges from the shadows, mirroring challenges faced across the nation where traditional industries that have long sustained working-class communities are in decline, causing suffering, economic strife, and political divisiveness. Mendo, just like the nation, is fighting to find itself in the twenty-first century.

    Reviews

    "Oxford University researcher Harris debuts with a freewheeling history of the grassroots marijuana industry in California’s rural Mendocino County . . . It makes for a raucous look at the renegades that built the Emerald Triangle " —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

    "Mendo is like a smooth ride on a motorcycle over backroads, and Charlie Harris makes magic out of unlikely figures that otherwise might be lost to history. There are police chases, environmental activists, and nuanced policy explorations. You feel like you've gone back to the land yourself. But this book ultimately isn't just about marijuana or a winding region of Northern California—it's really about this country and where it stands today." —Nick Neely, author of Alta California

    "Little understood by Californians, little known by Americans, Mendocino County has finally received the fast and compelling history it deserves. Charlie Harris tells us about the people, the process, the politics, and the business of marijuana, along with the government’s attack, and how they came together to shape an extraordinary place." —Steven Stoll, author of Ramp Hollow: The Ordeal of Appalachia

    "Mendo is a brilliantly observed history of an outlaw economy and the people who lived by it. Charlie Harris writes with rare clarity and humor about cannabis, community, and the quiet violence of economic transition—capturing a forgotten America at the moment it slips into the light." —Norman Ohler, author of Tripped

    Author

    CHARLIE HARRIS is a writer and researcher from the United Kingdom who has done his time on America’s west coast. He left the pot industry for academia, where he has worked since 2018 as a writer for Oxford University’s Global History of Capitalism Project.
    Charlie Harris View titles by Charlie Harris

    Additional formats

    Related Articles

    Penguin Random House Library Marketing

    © 2026 Penguin Random House

    Back to Top
    0
    Wish List (0)
    • More Websites from
      Penguin Random House
    • Common Reads
    • Library Marketing